This what if version of Pride and Prejudice starts with Elizabeth Bennet reading her sister Lydia’s letter and it stated that Mr. Darcy had been present at Lydia and George Wickham’s hurried wedding last summer. Back then, Elizabeth and her relatives were on holiday staying in Lambton and were visiting Pemberley when Elizabeth unexpectedly nearly bumped into Mr. Darcy as he returned home. She was mortified to run into the very man who had proposed to her a few weeks earlier whilst he was visiting his Aunt Catherine that Easter at Rosings, her grand estate in York. She and her aunt and uncle had been told that the man was away but he returned earlier. Though Elizabeth tried to leave the place as soon as possible, Darcy came out and greeted her and her relatives. She had last seen him the morning he left Rosings when he handed her his letter and walked away. But Elizabeth believed he had changed since then. At Pemberley he was no longer the proud and arrogant man she had known earlier and she and her relatives had dined with Darcy and his sister and all had enjoyed the time spent together. It was in Lambton, the next day, that Darcy happened upon Elizabeth as she read of her sister and George Wickham’s elopement. The Gardiners and their niece next left immediately to return to Longbourn. Elizabeth had been tormented ever since she learned of her sister’s elopement, but her uncle Gardiner had found the couple and made them marry.
Just before Christmas, Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet had married near Longbourn. It was a predicament that bothered Elizabeth. First, she had refused to marry Mr. Collins, who next chose to marry her good friend, Charlotte Lucas. After that, Lydia was married and weeks later, her eldest and favourite sister, Jane, married Mr. Bingley. But Charles Bingley was mad at Darcy and his once friend was not invited to the wedding. Ever since seeing Darcy at Pemberley, she could not forget the man and often thought of how she had offended him in rejecting his proposal. She had even called him the last man in the world she could be prevailed upon to marry. Slowly but surely her heart would not let her mind rest for she knew that Fitzwilliam Darcy had been in love with her. Indeed, Elizabeth knew that Darcy had returned to town from Rosings and told his friend that he had been mistaken about Jane Bennet’s feelings. Soon after Mr. Darcy’s visit, Mr. Bingley returned to Netherfield, the home that he had rented near Longbourn. But Lydia’s letter spoke of Mr. Darcy having attended the wedding and Elizabeth had to learn of his involvement in that wedding. She had missed him and wanted to apologize for her words when she rejected his proposal at Easter, but she had to return home after learning of the elopement. Now she wondered if he might still care for her. It was foolhardy, but she had fallen in love with the man and she had to see him again, if for no other season than to apologize and settle her feelings. I hope you will enjoy the story. There is not too much angst as in other retellings as Darcy and Elizabeth look to discover if they have a future together.
Caegories:
- E&D's courtship mostly while Elizabeth is with Gardiners in London
- Altered events during novel
- Post-Hunsford letter unwritten or unread
- Immediate post-Hunsford altered resolutions
- Darcy tells Bingley of his interference right after DHP
- Bingley ends friendship with Darcy
- Lady Catherine's confrontation did not happen
- Resolution deferred until after Jane's wedding
- Elizabeth learns of Darcy's role in Lydia's rescue later than in canon